Posted in Whathaveyou on September 9th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Though it’s been streaming since I don’t know when — May? was it May? — the self-titled sophomore LP (review here) from not-all-Southern-sludge socially conscious four-piece Doomsday Profit will see its real-life arrival next Friday, Sept. 19. The celebration starts early, with shows this weekend in Virginia and the band’s native North Carolina. The weekender is one of a few they’ll do between now and the start of November, as the PR wire informs, and while I know it’s not the farthest-ranging tour ever, at least they’re getting out, and it is another excuse for me to post about the record before it’s released, so I’ll take that happily.
And I guess I did and here we are.
Context and such:
North Carolina sludge metal outfit DOOMSDAY PROFIT announce select Southeast dates in support of their forthcoming self-titled album
North Carolina’s Doomsday Profit have announced a run of Southeast shows for the Fall, promoting the band’s self-titled album, out September 19. Dates include a double-header in Virginia and North Carolina with D.C. grind ‘n’ roll veterans Drugs of Faith, as well as a mini-tour to Tampa Doom & Gloom Fest II with stops in Columbia, SC, Athens, GA, Gainesville, FL, and Tampa.
Full dates and album promos below.
Upcoming Shows
Sep. 12 – Lynchburg, VA – Super Rad Arcade (with Drugs of Faith, Septic Vomit, Palladists) Sep. 13 – Winston-Salem, NC – Hoots Beer Co. (with Drugs of Faith, Valletta, And I Become Death) Oct. 17 – Durham, NC – TBA Oct. 30 – Columbia, SC – The Space (with Prosperity Gospel, Zyphoid) Oct. 31 – Athens, GA – Cine (with Lungburner, False Gods) Nov. 1 – Gainesville, FL – The Atlantic (with Grave Filth, Seeker) Nov. 2 – Tampa, FL – Deviant Libation (Tampa Doom & Gloom Fest II)
There’s no time to waste. At least that’s how Doomsday Profit seems to be operating. After making their debut with the gritty stoner-sludge of 2021’s In Idle Orbit, the Durham, N.C.-based band issued 2024’s psych-leaning split with Virginia-based Smoke, and has kept the momentum going ever since. With their forthcoming self-titled album, Doomsday Profit now has embedded an even wider array of influences into their acerbic, dystopian sludge. Particles of monolithic doom, grisly death ‘n’ roll grooves, driving punk rock and scathing black metal all flash in the band’s raw self-titled LP.
Doomsday Profit: Ryan Sweeney – bass guitar Kevin See – lead guitar Bryan Reed – vocals & guitar David Ruiz – drums
North Carolinian sludge metallers Doomsday Profit will release their second, self-titled album on Sept. 19. That’s just under a month away, but as they premiere the video for “Sin Eater” below, they note that it’s also the “eighth and final” single from the record, so one would hardly accuse them of not putting their money where their mouth is either in terms of reaching out to fans or manifesting the progressive-in-thought-and-lunkheaded-of-riff ideology of their sound in the release process. Ethical consistency.
That is to say, it’s one thing to say you believe everyone should have free healthcare. It’s another to give away most of your album while doing so. The generosity on the part of the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Bryan Reed, lead guitarist/vocalist Kevin See, bassist/vocalist Ryan Sweeney and drummer David Ruiz feels consistent with the positions taken throughout. Only opener “It’s Already Over,” with its Rwake-esque semi-spoken parts over squibbly guitars and furious toms, is held back from the nine-song/43-minute LP.
“Sin Eater” is the penultimate track on the album, and its metaphor of the privileged using the poor as toilet paper for their souls should not be lost on the age of private space programs and ICE raids now localized to your hometown. While steeped in Southern heavy and sludge as they were on their 2021 debut, In Idle Orbit (review here), with songs like the early pair of “Stargazer” and “Spirits” or the memorable repetitions of the title in the lyrics of “Doomsday Profit,” almost spit out by the end of the song in disgust.
They veer into metal, as with the breakdown chug of “Terror Cycle,” even a bit of death metal there — also in “Drive Into the Sun,” but I think it’s mostly because the sub-three-minute cut is so punk that heavy as Doomsday Profit play it, it kind of sounds like Entombed; that should be read as a compliment to the song — and contrast that with the more atmospheric reach of the 7:38 finale “Monument to Nothing,” where the solo gives over to a slowdown after about four and a half minutes in before the next scorcher lead takes hold, pushes the band to the brink, and turns back around to end slow and Sabbathy because at the end of the day, the riff.
It is a time for bold statements, however, and in that regard, “The South Will Sink” seems like the kind of thing that would result in online death threats (probably good PR) or being put on some vague watchlist. The lyrics marry the climate crisis to the vision of ‘the South will rise again’ post-Civil War rhetoric, pointing out the ridiculousness of the latter in the face of the former’s rising waters. “Your shallow history/Of purblind hate/Slips deep into the dark/Of your advancing fate.” Stylistically speaking, Doomsday Profit don’t give themselves a lot of space for grand manifesto making. The longest line there is five words. In that kind of situation, you have to make your word choices count, and they do. I had to look up “purblind.”
Heavy-handed? Heavy everything. “The South Will Sink” is emblematic in the sense of standing as representative of their sound while also encapsulating the point of view of the lyrics. A prior single and a handy what-it’s-all-about summary, it leads into the title-track as if the band wants to remind you who just said the thing. After this, the Yatra-style extremity worked into “Sin Eater” makes for a welcome face-peel, double-kick culmination and all.
Doomsday Profit are continuing to grow, and it might be that somewhere along the line they discover that their particular take on ‘Southern sludge’ actually sounds more like progressive death metal, but that’s years off and dependent on their creative path going in that direction, so don’t think I’m saying that’s how they sound now. But it’s in there, along with doom riffs, groove despondency, and a willingness to take a position politically where so many others keep their heads down either for concern for safety, hopelessness or apathy. Take your pick.
Doomsday Profit is less a vision of a better future than a glimpse of the cold realities under the microplastic’ed sheen of today. May they grow ever more class-conscious.
Enjoy the video:
Doomsday Profit, “Sin Eater” video premiere
Doomsday Profit on “Sin Eater”:
In case you aren’t aware of the history of sin eaters, it was a practice associated primarily with isolated towns in Wales and other parts of the British Isles — and in some parts of Appalachia, as well. The family of a recently deceased person would hire a sin eater — usually a poor and desperate person living on the fringes of the community — to consume a ritual meal of bread and beer that would also carry with it the sins of the deceased. This way, the dead person could be absolved and go on to Heaven, while the sin-eater would carry the sins upon their soul instead.
Historically, the sin eater was a pariah; a poor outcast exploited to do the work no one else could stomach. Ironically, despite their sacrifice, the sin eater was subsequently cast even further to the fringes of society for doing such unseemly work and being tainted with the sins of others.
For us, it was a compelling bit of historical lore that also seemed to work as an allegory for the ways in which the powerful continue to place blame and burden upon marginalized members of society, and exploit people’s labor and desperation to further enrich themselves. The video was produced and directed by Graydaughter Creative here in North Carolina. Bongfoot drummer Curry Davis plays the titular sin eater.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
There’s much grief and inner turmoil one eventually comes to terms with in the undertaking of servitude that no amount of selflessness and goodwill ever prepares you for.
Through this lens, “Sin Eater” dares to slip a bitter pill of transcendental tribulation, leaving one to ask if the extent of societal expectation of self-sacrifice in full submission to a noble good is reasonable, regardless of the toil taken upon its called steward. I think these themes are driven home well by the guys in this track.
Undeniably, it’s such a universally identifiable struggle that I hope the music video encapsulates and prompts new discourse surrounding this invisible tension and burden society often goes to great lengths to conceal, ignore, and ultimately take for granted. — Grayson Simon
VIDEO CREDITS:
Director, Director of Photography, Editor: Grayson Simon (@vernal.lamb)
On this recording, Doomsday Profit is: Bryan Reed (rhythm guitar/vocals), Kevin See (lead guitar/vocals), Ryan Sweeney (bass/vocals), and David Ruiz (drums).
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 22nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Heralding bruiser sludge in follow-up to their 2024 split with Smoke, North Carolinian four-piece Doomsday Profit unveil the eponymous first single from their upcoming self-titled sophomore LP. I don’t see a release date yet for the album, but the record’s done and they posted a song from it, so, you know, the promotional cycle has begun. April? June? You never really know, of course.
There’s some outward harshness — nothing untoward if you heard the split — but a hook is a hook and that’s working in Doomsday Profit‘s favor. The affect isn’t quite the next-gen sludge party Leather Lung are calling for, but there’s a strong learning-from-the-past-and-moving-forward current in “Doomsday Profit,” and for sure that’s a thing to dig.
Info and the lyric video follow, as per the PR wire:
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New Single and Lyric Video from NC sludge/doom outfit DOOMSDAY PROFIT
Doomsday Profit (Durham, N.C.) is pleased to announce the release of “Doomsday Profit,” the first single pulled from a new full-length album of the same name, due out later this year.
Barely letting the dust settle on last year’s split with Virginia psych-doom titans Smoke (Olde Magick Records), Doomsday Profit is ready to showcase the next era in the band’s sound. Recorded in summer 2024, “Doomsday Profit” is a long-gestating thesis statement, with pointed lyrics giving life to the band’s moniker, and a monolithic, minimalist arrangement mining the purest ores of sludge and doom.
Regarding the song, the band offers the following statement:
“Doomsday Profit” was one of the first songs we wrote, and we always pictured it as a sort of thesis statement. Lyrically, at least, we were trying to marry the political vitriol of our favorite hardcore punk with the senses of dread and inevitability that course through the best doom metal. How else are you supposed to feel when you can watch, in-real time, as the string-pullers of global policy, the heads of major business and government, continue to casually ignore every warning of catastrophe, just so they can squeeze a little more blood and money out of the third stone from the sun? We’re all doomed, and they’re the reason.
Musically, it took us a while to find the right way to deliver “Doomsday Profit.” It just didn’t feel complete, so we shelved it. When David Ruiz joined the band, we revisited it, and ended up paring down the arrangement. In keeping it a little simpler, it felt like it hit harder, and the lyrics could stand out a bit more. Another lesson from punk rock, it seems.
This is the version of “Doomsday Profit” we’re glad to present to you today, Inauguration Day in the USA. And as we send this, things are still looking pretty bleak. But one thing this band has proven to us, over and over again, is we’re not alone in our fear, or our anger, or our resolve to live the best lives we can while we can. This one’s for all of us.
Love, Doomsday Profit
—
There’s no time to waste. At least that’s how Doomsday Profit seems to be operating. After making their debut with the gritty stoner-sludge of 2021’s In Idle Orbit, the Durham, N.C.-based band issued 2024’s psych-leaning split with Virginia-based Smoke, and has kept the momentum going ever since. With their forthcoming self-titled album, Doomsday profit now has embedded an even wider array of influences into their acerbic, dystopian sludge. Particles of monolithic doom, grisly death ‘n’ roll grooves, driving punk rock and scathing black metal all flash in the band’s raw self-titled LP.
As ever, Doomsday Profit has a finger pointed squarely at the powers that be, but they’ve also learned to turn their ire inward, and balance their vitriol with melancholic nuance. This broader approach has turned their already dynamic performances into a must-see, with a live resume that includes Hopscotch Music Festival and Seismic Summer, as well as supporting slots with established acts like Thou, The Obsessed, Black Tusk, REZN, and Restless Spirit.
On this recording, Doomsday Profit is: Bryan Reed (rhythm guitar/vocals), Kevin See (lead guitar/vocals), Ryan Sweeney (bass/vocals), and David Ruiz (drums).
